Summary: For https://seminary.erskine.edu/ Doctor of Ministry program

This is a five+ page “Integrity in the Ministry” paper that interacts with Peterson, my other research, appropriate Bbiblical texts, and other resources such as Dangerous Calling by Tripp. I will focus especially on areas where I have identified weaknesses. You will see it is like one of our readings, I “will not say, write, affirm, or distribute anything that distorts the truth.”

In his Praying by the Book chapter II Peterson mentioned Hebrews 4: 12-13 which states “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” I agree The Word can cause division in today’s world. Jesus can be controversial depending on the setting.

He also mentioned Revelation 1: 16 “In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun [a]shining in its strength.”. This can refer to the words of Christ having an impact in our lives. I shared this with an 11 September planner at his request at the Federal prison in Florence, CO.

Peterson wrote, “If we had kept our mouths shut we would not have involved ourselves in such a relentlessly fearsome exposure.” I am learning the importance of sometimes keeping my thoughts to myself. I am more introverted than I was when I was younger.

He wrote in his Prayer Time chapter III “The Deuteronomy reason for Sabbath-keeping is that our ancestors in Egypt went four hundred years without a vacation (Duet 5:15)” which is “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.”

I take days off when I can, but I have not had a non-work-related vacation in years. I went to Israel this summer for two weeks, but it was a part of a mission trip. I tend to go to conferences which help me recharge. In the summer I tend to go to the mountains or lakes when I can on my days off.

Peterson wrote in his Practicing Spiritual Direction Chapter IX “For a start, I can cultivate an attitude of awe.” I try to worship God daily since I stand in awe of Him. Spiritual direction is becoming popular in the Vineyard, , but you know I am working on counseling.

He wrote, “Second, I can cultivate an awareness of my ignorance.” One benefit of being involved in two Doctor of Ministry Programs (Denver and Erskine Seminaries) is learning how much I do not know about Marriage and Family Counseling, etc.

“Third, I can cultivate a predisposition to prayer.” I pray every morning before I get up, before I drive, and throughout the day as I can, and I try to pray for the world before I go to bed.

I have several weaknesses on which I will elaborate. Patience – I am impressed with our Complex Warden who listened twice as long to an inmate’s complaints that I would have. I can learn from him. Some of the counseling sessions I give are more than an hour.

Working in an interfaith situation - It is challenging helping fifteen religions. I have written before if I must cross spiritual boundaries I will quit. This is like a question asked in our reading “Am I communicating the truth of my message”?

Dealing with injustice - Executives being overly strict at the Federal prison, not being able to graduate from Denver Seminary, and the Army Reserve not reimbursing more than five hundred dollars for travel are some examples of injustices with which I have had to deal.

Inefficiency – My previous supervisor did not have as much prison experience as I. My peer is currently my acting supervisor. He made a 2023 religious events calendar which had many mistakes we had to correct. He sometimes forgets the plans for our complex.

Incompetent leaders – Our medium-security warden moved the minimum-security Outdoor Worship Area to slanted land. I warned him during our big rainstorms it may move. He did the same at the medium and when he left it was moved back. Recently he had a questionable lockdown due to rumors versus physical actions at our high-security prison, which is still open. I realize he is trying to keep us safe, but the inmates suffer.

Nieuwhof wrote about burnout. I have gone through this a couple of times. I set limits and boundaries now and rest on my days off so prayerfully it will not happen again. Some things I need to think about are because I am single with no kids, is my life all about me or Jesus? This reminds me of a song, “It’s all about Jesus” by Scott Underwood about this.

Niefwhof suggested I tell someone. My deep conversations are rare. I must be careful of self-disclosing too much at work. That is a reason I did Denver Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry in Marriage and Family Counseling program. , to get to the roots of people’s problems. I lost a close friend over a woman I have been seeing for five years and I may lose her because I am sometimes too harsh for her since I work for the prison and the Army Reserve. I confess daily, but do I change? As Paul wrote, I do the things I do not want to do (Romans 7:15).

The Army is competitive and so are evaluations at work and school. If we do not have a seat at the table, we do not have input. That is why I encourage our department to attend important meetings. Tripp wrote about impatience with others. As I mentioned above our Complex Warden has more patience than I do. I am trying to spend quality time with those whom I am with.

He encouraged us to “seek out a spiritually mature person to mentor you” and “place yourself under wise and biblical counsel.”. At Denver Seminary I met with two retired Active Duty Chaplain (Major)s for their mentoring program. I stayed with one of them for my Reserve weekends in Tulsa and we are still in contact. My acting supervisor at the prison has more time working for them than I do so I respect his opinions. I am thankful that two Associate Wardens are supportive. One deployed to Iraq as well so that helps our relationship.

Tripp wrote, “be committed to appropriate self-disclosure in your preaching.” As I wrote above, I must be careful about self-disclosing too much about myself at work when I speak. He wrote about the cycle of danger. This includes unhelpful assumptions. I am the Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging Myers Briggs Type Indicator and they warn about assumptions. Tripp also wrote about unrealistic expectations We must be realistic, and not be too optimistic.

I must be careful about “moving from identity in Christ to identity in ministry.” . This reminds me of Dr . Neil Anderson’s material. We need to be more concerned about who we are in Christ (our identity) as well as what we do for Him.

Tripp encouraged me that fear can be a very good and godly thing. I am jumpy at the prison since it is potentially dangerous there. I have been diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder.

Tripp’s Chapter 11 Between the already and not yet. This reminds me of George E. Ladd and John Wimber (the co-founder of the Vineyard denomination). “Ladd first introduced the notion of the kingdom of God as having both present (already) and future (not yet) aspects.”

Tripp warned, “You will not be open to the ministry of the body of Christ.” I purposefully let inmates and those I work with in the Army minister. It is time for me to mentor others. He wrote, “You will feel qualified to have more control than you have.” On Saturdays and Sundays, I think I am sometimes the highest-paid person at the prison, but I do not have the most power. The Operations and Activities Lieutenants do. I must submit to their authority.

Tripp wrote, “You will load more on your ministry than you can responsibly handle.” Since 2010 I have been too busy with the prison, Reserve, and school. I medically retired from the Reserve which helped.

Self-glory will cause you to talk when you should be quiet. The older I get the more introverted I am becoming. I may be imitating my father who was quiet. Self-glory will cause you to care too much about what people think of you. Now that I am getting older, I am not as concerned about this but I still care what others think. I was appreciated at my retirement ceremonies from my twenty-two-year Army Reserve career.

Self-glory will cause you to control ministry rather than delegate ministry. As I wrote above, I am trying to give inmates and Soldiers more of a chance to lead as I mentor them. It is time for let others shine and perhaps they will learn from my experiences. A biblical example of this is when Jethro told Moses to delegate.

Confess publicly to your own struggle. I must be balanced with how much I do this and how much I confess to mentors I trust. As mentioned above I need to be careful about sharing too much. I conclude with a quote from our reading, which is appropriate because of where I work. “Bless you, prison, for having been in my life!” . Sometimes I do not appreciate it.

This was a five+ page “Integrity in the Ministry” paper that interacted with Peterson, my other research, appropriate Biblical texts, and other resources such as Dangerous Calling by Tripp. I focused especially on areas where I have identified weaknesses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Denverseminary.edu. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://denverseminary.edu/program/doctor-of-ministry/.

Digitalcommons.andrews.edu. Accessed March 21, 2023.

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3091&cotext=auss.

Dreher, Rod. Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents. New York: Sentinel,

2020.

Ficm.org. Accessed March 12, 2013. https://www.ficm.org/.

Nieuwhof, Carey. Didn’t See it Coming. New York: Waterbrook, 2018.

Noble, Alan. Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age. Downers Grove:

InterVarsity Press, 2018.

Pathak, Jay. (Vineyard USA National Director, church planter), milehighvineyard.org. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.milehighvineyard.org/spiritual-direction.

Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Tripp, Paul David. Dangerous Calling. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012.

Underwood, Scott. Vineyardsongs.com. Accessed March 3, 2023.

https://vineyardsongs.com/songs/its-all-about-jesus.